Bad news from Thursday: While the Bulls are doing their usual secretive process when it comes to the prognosis of their players, the guys themselves offered up some unsettling information.
I hate talking about my wrist, but I'm going to talk with the medical staff and Thibs. The past few games, it has escalated a little bit. We have to kind of bring it down again. I've been trying to avoid it and everything but it's a tough one.
I said it from the start: I'm not taking that [surgery] route. Mostly it's going to be rest. It's definitely better than when I first did it and when I first came back. But there was a period of time when it felt great. The last few games, the pain is kind of high again. I have to control it and monitor it. I just have to find ways to adjust my game. I've proved I can play with it. Some days it's going to feel great. Some days it's going to feel terrible. We just have to bring it down.
As KC Johnson points out in that article, Deng is shooting 14 of his last 41. He's made a few big 4th quarter threes in that time, but overall doesn't look to be entirely the same player.
And as for Rip Hamilton, early reports made it seem like his shoulder injury wasn't so bad, but Rip himself presents a different picture (emphasis mine):
Rip Hamilton said doctors have told him it will take a month for his sprained shoulder to fully heal, which would make it difficult for him to be at 100 percent when the playoffs start.
The veteran said he believes he'll be able to return earlier than that.
"I don't think it's going to take me that long," he said.
Rushing back didn't work out so well for the old man before, so we may have to trust the doctors on this one. The jerks, I wish I could instead un-learn this information and just say day-to-day. Hey, in that same article CJ Watson hopes to be back Saturday! See, I feel better.
Plus this will all be a convenient excuse for when the Bulls hang close and lose to Miami next week.